Bottle-washing machine.



No. 807,687. PATENTED DEC. 19, 1905. B. F. SOHIRMER.

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED EEO. 8,1902, EENEWED SEPT. 16,1905.

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WITNESSES: INVENTOR KW 4; 9' ,dczwz' M m ATTORNEY BALDWIN F. SOHIRMER,OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

BOTTLE-WASHING MACHINE- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed December 8 1902. Renewed September 16,1905. Serial No.278,780.

' To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, BALDWIN F. SCHIRMER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBottle-Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bottle washing machines and machines of asimilar class by means of which it is desired to carry a large number ofbottles through a tank filled with water or similar cleansingorsterilizing solution and at the end of their journey to deliver themto another tank or receptacle or into the hands of the workmen. Machinesof this class commonly comprise an endless carrier consisting of a pairof endless sprocketchains, one mounted on each side of a tank andbetween which chains are suspended the bottle-holder's proper. Thesprocket-chains are propelled by sprocket-wheels from a suitable sourceof power, and the bottles are fed into the transverse holders at one endof the tank and delivered at the other end, either being automaticallyejected from the bottleholders or removed therefrom by hand.

The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus having the generalcharacteristics stated and which is particularly simple in constructionand highly efficient in operation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of abottle-washing machineprovided withmyimproved bottle-holders, the bottleholding jaws and sprocketchains being represented diagrammatically andthe apparatusbeing shown provided with two tanks. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of one of the bottle-holding jaws, showing the parts indetail. Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective view of a part of one of thebottle-holding jaws, showing an additional guard at the front end of thereceiving-plate. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a formof the apparatus in which the sterilizing-tank is sunk beneath thefloor.

In the drawings, 1 is a tank divided by a partition 2 into twocompartments-one, 3, designed to hold a sterilizing or cleansingsolution and the other, 4, clean water. Mounted in suitable bearings inthe sides of the tank (not shown) and upon a framework 5, secued aboveand adjacent to the tank, are sundry sprocket-wheels 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10,and

aspur-wheel 1 1, all designed to engage with an endless sprocket-chain20 and to propel the same, as indicated in the drawings. It will beunderstood that each of the sprocketwheels has a corresponding wheel onthe other side of the machine.

A plurality of bottle-holding jaws 30 are arranged transversely betweenthe two sprocket-chains and are attached to the links 21 21 of suchchains by means of inwardlyextending flanges 22 22, made integraltherewith and rigidly secured by rivets or other suitable means to thejaws 30. Each jaw consists of a bottle-holding plate 31, with anupwardly-extending flange 32 at its front end and a downwardly-extendingflange 33 at its rear end. The flange 32 is hollowed out at certainpoints 34 34 to afford an opening through which the emptying of thebottles takes place.

at right angles to the planes of the flanges 32 and 33. It is likewiseprovided with upwardly-extending guards 36 36, arranged parallel to theflange 32 and at right angles to the guards 35.

The bottles to be transmitted in the carrier formed by thesprocket-chains and transverse jaws are laid upon the top of the plate31 between the guards 35 with the head of the bottle pointing toward theflange 32. It will be observed that the guards 35 35 are so arrangedthat a bottle fits snugly between each pair and that the guards 36 36are so arranged as to afford a narrower space between them than betweenthe guards 35. These guards serve aptly, therefore, to prevent thelateral displacement of the bottle upon this plate. The guards 36 inconnection with the ange 32 also serve to prevent the longitudinaldisplacement forward of the bottle when on the receiving-plate. The jaws30, being secured to the sprocket-chains 20, are arranged so that at thelowermost point of their travel the flanges 3 2 are uppermost andsubstantially horizontal, while the flanges 33 are lowermost andsubstantially horizontal. Being rigidly secured to the sprocket-shame,supposing the latter to move in the direction indicated by the arrows,it will be seen that the jaws gradually turn and are finally inverted,sothat a point is reached when they are between the wheels 6 and 9, wherethe flange 32 is lowermost and substantially horizontal and the flange33 uppermost and substantially horizontal. Along this path of theirtravel the bottles are held bottom up ward. The jaws are again reversedbetween the wheels 9 and 10 and again reversed be tween the wheels 10and 8, so that while passing through the bottom of the tank the bottlesare bottom downward, are then caused to be reversed to a position wherethey are bottom upward, and are again reversed in position to bring thebottles bottom down ward at a point where the chain passes around thewheel 10.

As the jaws vare rigidly attached to the links, it will be observed thatas the links pass over the sprocket-chains the bottleolding plates 31change their angles to each other. For instance, while the carrier ispassing the sprocket-wheel 8 the flange 33 is a great distance from theplate 31 on the aw immediately in front of it. In other words, thepocket formed between two successive jaws is at that point open andadapted to receive the bottles, which are at that place fed into themachine with their necks pointed toward the flanges 32. As the carriermoves onward the flange 33 is caused to approach nearer to the plate 31of .the jaw in front of it and the bottles are practically, inclosed.This continues during their travel in a vertical direction and until thewheel 7 is reached. This wheel is made of a larger diameter than thewheel 8. The angles formed, therefore, between any two adjacent jaws inassing the lower right-hand quadrant of the wheel are not so great asthose formed in passing the upper right-hand quadrant of the wheel 8.The flanges 33 do not, therefore, move away from the plates 31 of thejaws immediately in front of them, and the bottle is prevented fromescaping. A guard 40 is placed at this point to prevent the accidentaldischarge of the bottle. The bottles are inclosed and held in a verticalposition between the adj acent aws while they are passing horizontallybetween the wheels 7 and 6. They pass around the wheel 6 and are thenreverted, but, falling toward the inner flanges 32 of,each of the jaws,are not allowed to escape from the pockets between the jaws, althoughtheir contents can empty.

The wheel 5 is made of a diameter equal to or greater than the wheel 6,and conse- .quently the jaws do not open sufliciently while passingaround this wheel to permit of the escape of the bottles. Between thewheels 9 and 10 the bottles have assumed an upright position. The wheel10 has a smaller diameter than the wheel 9, and consequently the jawsare opened wide while the carrier passes around this wheel, and thebottles are thereby permitted to drop out of the carrier by the force ofgravity.

A slide 41 is provided to receive them and guide them into thefresh-water tank 4, or the wheel 10 may be so placed that they aredropped directly into such tank without the intervention of a slide 41,as shown in Fig. 4.

In cases where the sprocket-wheels must be kept as small as possible itmay be desirable to provide additional means for preventing the escapeof the bottles when they are held bottom upward. For this purpose Iprovide the flanges 32 32 with an additional plate 31 and turning itupward. The jaws,

however, form the subject-matter of a separate application for LettersPatent of the United States, Serial No. 135,065, filed by me on the 13thday of December, 1902, and to which reference may be made for moreparticular details of its construction.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a form of my improved apparatus, in whichthe sterilizing or cleansing tank is very deep as compared with thefresh-water tank and in which the bottles are shown as dischargingdirectly into the fresh-water tank without the intervention of the slide41, as shown in Fig. 1.

What I claim is 1. In a machine of the class described, a bottle-holdercomprising a plurality of aws arranged in succession along an endlessflexible carrier, to which they are rigidly secured, each aw adapted toreceivea bottle and carry it with its longitudinal axis substantially atright angles to the line of travel of the carrier and'provided withmeans for preventing the lateral displacement of the bottles and forpreventing the longitudinal displacement of the bottles except atpredetermined times.

2. In a machine of the class described, a bottle-holder comprising aplurality of jaws arranged in succession along an endless flexiblecarrier, each jaw adapted to receive a bottle and carry it with itslongitudinal axis substantially at right angles to the line of travel ofthe carrier and provided with means for preventing the lateraldisplacement of the bottles and for preventing the longitudinaldisplacement of the bottles except at predetermined times, the means forthe last-mentioned purpose consisting of a flange proj ecting from thenext jaw toward the bottle.

3. In a machine of the class described, an endless flexible bottlecarrier comprising chains, a plurality of aws arranged in successionalong the chains and secured to the links thereof, at a pointintermediate the ex- Witness my hand, this 3d day of December,treinities of the jaws and substantially at a 1902, at the city ofBuffalo, in the county of right angle to the link to which each jaw isErie and State of New York.

firmly attached, whereby, when the direction BALDWIN F. SCHIRMER. 5 ofmovement of the carrier is Varied, the ad- Witnesses:

jacent jaws are caused to change their angles 0. A. STRANGMANN,

with respect to each other. EDWARD C. REEB.

